Margaret (Caldwell) Richey (1729 - 1802)

Born 4 Jan 1729 in Lancaster, Colony of Pennsylvania

Ancestors

Wife of James Richey Sr — married [date unknown] in Prince Edward Or Lunenburg, Virginia

Descendants

Died 12 Sep 1802 at age 73 in Donalds, South Carolina, United States [uncertain]

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Biography

Margaret was the eldest daughter of William Caldwell and Rebecca Walkup and she married Major John Ritchie/Richey, who fought with Margaret's brothers John, William, and James in Colonel Thomson's regiment of South Carolina rangers. This much of Margaret's life comes from three early sources:

• John Belton O'Neall, brother-in-law of Margaret's nephew John Caldwell, Esq. and author of the 1859 Annals of Newberry ^[1]
• The Newberry Observer 1887 story on "The Caldwells of Mill Creek" ^[2]
• Margaret's niece, Elizabeth Ann (Caldwell) Higgins, in her memoir about her grandparents and their families ^[3]

Elizabeth Higgins tells the story of Margaret and four of her five sisters -- all but Martha -- being married on the same day shortly after the end of the Revolution (about 1783/84). They had each been engaged during the war to men from Newberry, Laurens, and Abbeville who had served with her brothers in Colonel Thomson's regiment.

Margaret's husband John was the son of Robert and Margaret Richey of Laurens, South Carolina. John Richey had a brother William and a sister Mary who married William Goodman, all of Laurens. William Goodmand was first cousin to the Elizabeth Ann Williams who married Margaret's brother William Thomas Caldwell. ^[4]

Margaret's husband John's will was proved 08 Nov 1819 in Laurens County, and his executors were his son William and his friend Martin Shaw. William reported to the court on 07 Oct 1820 that his mother Margaret was deceased, ^[5] placing her date of death sometime before that.

Muss identifies Margaret and John's children as: ^[4]

1. John, Jr.
2. Samuel
3. William
4. Jane, m. ____ Harris
5. Rebecca, m. ____ Graves

Note: Rebecca Graves is mentioned in her grandmother Rebecca (Walkup) Caldwell's will.

Research Notes

Later and less reliable accounts such as Ann Calhoun McMath Roy's article for the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) Magazine ^[6] and Thomas Arrington Stallworth's genealogy of the Caldwell family ^[7] incorrectly identify this Margaret Caldwell's husband as a James Ritchie/Richey, apparently based on an Abbeville County, South Carolina grave for a "Margaret Caldwell, born in Pennsylvania, 4 Jan 1729 - 12 Sep 1802, wife of James Richey, Sr." ^[8]

The children that Thomas Stallworth (probably incorrectly) attributes to Margaret Caldwell and James Richey are: ^[7]

1. John, b. abt. 1750, m. Nancy Brownlee
2. James, Jr., b. 1752, m. Elizabeth Dunn
3. Robert, b. 1754, m. Mary (Stewart) Wein
4. Andrew, b. ____, m. Elizabeth Webb
5. Agnes, b. 1763, m. Henry Purdy
6. William, b. 1769, m1. J. Stone, m2. E. Richey
7. Ann, b. abt. 1770, m. George Wilson
8. Alexander, died young
9. Jeanne, died young
10. Margaret, died young

Sources

1. ↑ The Annals of Newberry, by John Belton O'Neall, LL.D. Charleston, S.C.: S. G. Courtenay and Co., publishers, 1859.
2. ↑ "The Caldwells of Mill Creek, Newberry," the Newberry Observer, 27 Apr 1887
3. ↑ History of My Grand Parents and There (sic) Families, by Elizabeth Ann (Caldwell) Higgins, Newberry, South Carolina, Aug 1887.
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1} Genealogy.com: “Discrepancies Re: Caldwell Family of VA (Cub Creek) & SC (96 District)”, by Anoni Muss, 28 Sep 2014.
5. ↑ South Carolina Archives, Bundle 62, Package 15, on Microfilm C157, frames 6592-6613.
6. ↑ "Rebecca Parks Caldwell", by Ann Calhoun McMath Roy, DAR Magazine, National Association of the Daughters of the American Revolution, Nov 1974, pp. 860-862
7. ↑ ^{7.0 7.1} History of the Brooks Family, Butler Family, Caldwell Family, and Descendants of Margaret Rebecca (Caldwell) Stallworth, by Thomas Arrington Stallworth, Chester, South Carolina: published by the author, 1992
8. ↑ Find A Grave: Memorial #23057343 for Margaret Caldwell Richey (4 Jan 1729–12 Sep 1802), citing Greenville Presbyterian Church Cemetery, Donalds, Abbeville County, South Carolina, USA ; Maintained by Patricia (contributor 46777948).

See also:

• Letter from John Rodgers to Elias Boudinot Caldwell, written about 1824/25, and reprinted in Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, Vol. 19, 1911, pp. 92-94
• Letter from Judge James Sproull Cothran of Greenville, South Carolina dated 26 Jun 1895 to Gilbert Cape (sp?) of Newchurch (sp?), Pennsylvania.
• Elaine Randal, eng4@alltelnet Letter
• HAWTHORNE, James Everette (my father)
• Ancestry image
• Ancestry tree

Profile history:

• WikiTree profile Caldwell-753 created through the import of richey Family Tree.ged on Aug 2, 2011 by Ty Richey. See the Changes page for the details of edits by Ty and others.